


Jily One-Shots

by Accio_Me



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Family, Friendship, Gen, Horror, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8290426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accio_Me/pseuds/Accio_Me
Summary: This is a collection of all things Jily :D Some other pairings might be featured as well, but this work is mainly for Jily because James and Lily Potter are goals.





	1. A War Is Coming

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Sadly.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having a normal life is impossible when Lord Voldemort is on the rise. Wizards and Witches will have to fight. But this day is only the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This short story was for the second season of QLFC, so it's quite old. The prompt I got was writing about my OTP dealing with death, which is as difficult as it sounds...
> 
> Prompts:  
> (word) accept, (word) bench, (word) inkling
> 
> Enjoy reading :D

**A War Is Coming**

Biting her lip, Lily sat in the Evans’ living room, anxiously awaiting James’ arrival. It was two weeks into their summer holiday after their sixth year and they hadn’t seen each other since that last moment on the Hogwarts Express, just before they had greeted their families.

Lily was nervous. The butterflies in her stomach went wild as she thought back to their last moment together. The train had pulled to a stop at King’s Cross Station and the students had started to scurry out into the little hallway, dragging their heavy trunks after them. Owls had been hooting loudly, trying to drown the others and their owners out, toads had been croaking, cats meowing. It had been the usual chaos at the end of every year, but this year something was different.

_Lily watched her new friends file out of the room, chatting loudly. Sirius was complaining about something Peter had said, Remus didn’t seem to pay them much attention. He was nursing his rips from the latest punch from Sirius. Smiling, she turned her gaze towards her boyfriend, who was standing in their now empty compartment, a shy smile lightening up his handsome features._

_Once the door to their compartment slit shut, he took hold of her hand and gently traced his thumb over her soft skin. Goosebumps rose up her arm, making their way all over her body._

_“I’ll miss you,” he said, his voice was low, private.  This was meant only for her ears. A slight pink tint coloured his cheeks as he gazed at her through his fringe, trying to fight the butterflies in his stomach._

_“I’ll miss you, too.” Lily had to stop herself from giggling. She was almost delirious with happiness. Who would have thought that she, Lily Evans, Muggleborn and pretty ignorant when it came to all things magical, would get a boyfriend as charming and sweet as this Potter boy was. She bit her lip and smiled._

_After a pleasant silence, James glanced out of the compartment door. Sirius could be seen as he talked to Mr. and Mrs. Potter just outside their window. “I wanted to ask you something before we have to leave,” he said and turned back to the beautiful redhead in front of him._

_Lily smiled and looked at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for him to continue._

_“My parents would like to meet you in person.” His free hand jerked upwards and ran through his dishevelled hair, a gesture that she had learned to love. “So I wanted to invite you for tea, say, come Monday?”_

_Lily felt her stomach drop to a lower region as her heart sped up. Tea with James’ parents? She gulped and blinked rapidly. “I can’t,” she whispered and looked to the floor. “Tuney and her fiancé plan on coming over with his parents for dinner.” She pulled a grimace at the thought of the lump of fat her sister had the nerve to wanting to marry._

_James winced._

_“Yeah…”_

_Silence followed, leaving them standing in the empty compartment, both with a rather high pulse and blushes on their cheeks._

_“How about in two weeks then? I’ll come around and pick you up.”_

_A grin spread over her freckled face as she looked into his hazel eyes, which were glowing with affection. “Sounds great!”_

Her eyes travelled through the living room to the old grandfather clock. It was an heirloom from her mother’s part of the family and nobody really knew just how old it was. It was ten to three in the afternoon. James wanted to come over at three.

Her mother fidgeted nervously on the sofa in front of her, her father shot her a glance and went back to counting the seconds until the moment and the boyfriend of his youngest daughter would arrive, leaving him to having to admit that his little princess didn’t need him anymore. He swallowed and glared at the long handle of the wooden clock in the corner, which was continuously moving towards the twelve.

Petunia was the only one in the room who had an aura of utmost loathing surrounding her. It was nothing like her mother’s nervousness and excitement or her father’s stubbornness, it was downright dark. She kept huffing and clicking her tongue every few seconds, driving Lily insane. Just as she was about to snap at her to shut the heck up already, a soft _pop_ could be heard from just outside the front door and a few seconds later the doorbell rang. Lily’s eyes travelled to the old grandfather clock. It was three pm.

Her mother jumped up from the couch and rushed into the hallway, trying to reach the door first. Lily snickered and rose as well. Her mother’s excited voice could be heard as she ushered someone inside, fussing all over them. When Lily reached the hallway, she saw James with a shy smile on his face taking off his Muggle jacket, which was immediately rushed away by her overly excited mother.

“Hey,” she said lovingly and went over to him.

He reached for her hand and gave her a quick peck on her lips. His eyes roamed the hallway and the bit he was able to see from the kitchen and living room. He hadn’t been in a Muggle home before and it was all very confusing and fascinating for him. “How are you?” He mumbled and looked at her adoringly.

Blushing, Lily tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. “Good, just a bit nervous.” She smiled hesitantly and tried to fight the rollercoaster feeling she was getting as James smiled at her, his hazel eyes sparkling with happiness and mischief.

“Don’t worry, they’re not as bad as I am,” he winked at her, making her laugh. “They’re really excited to meet you, though. Mum actually stood in the kitchen all day yesterday and baked what looked like three cakes and a ton of muffins and pastries. I wouldn’t know for sure, though. Dad and I weren’t allowed to enter the kitchen.” With a carefree laugh, he ran his hand through his hair and smiled his lopsided smile.

“Will you stay for a bit and have some tea with us?” Lily’s mother just entered the hallway, closely followed by her father who was having difficulties keeping the smile on his face. Petunia was nowhere to be seen.

“I can’t, actually. I’m sorry, but my parents await us.” He took his jacket from Mrs. Evans and smiled apologetically at her. “I really am sorry, Mrs. Evans. I would have loved to stay, but you see, my mum can get rather impatient when it comes to things like that,” he laughed loudly, Kathy Evans joining right in. Even Robert Evans managed a soft chuckle.

“You will come over on Saturday then,” Kathy said and looked at James fondly. “And no ‘buts’!”

“I’d love to.”

Lily grinned at her mother as James helped her in her light summer jacket. “See you tonight then,” and with a kiss on each cheek of her parents and some whispered wishes of luck and caution, James took her hand and they apparated out of the hallway, leaving a giddy mother and a solemn father behind.

Her feet hit the ground and with a gasp she took a huge gulp of air. She didn’t like apparating – at all.

James took her hands and leaned down. The kiss was soft and loving, making Lily’s whole body tingle and her cheeks blush. “Don’t worry,” he mumbled, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke in a soft tone, only meant to be heard by her, “they’ll love you.”

Trying to calm her heartbeat down, she smiled shakily as James turned towards the house he grew up in. Taking a deep breath, she raised her head and blinked.

They were standing in front of a huge mansion, complete with columns that look like they were made out of marble. The three story high building was to be entered through a huge double swing door which reminded her of Hogwarts’ entrance area. The path leading up towards the manor was made out of pebble, surrounded and decorated with flowers, little bushes and small ponds which could be seen every now and then, peeking through tree trunks and long blades of grass. Beautiful stone benches stood in between clusters of roses and daisies, near a big lake right next to the mansion and under a huge willow. All in all, it looked like a castle taken right out of one of her favourite fairy tales.

But she couldn’t admire the view for much longer as she felt James tense next to her. Confused, she looked at her boyfriend, who was clutching her hand like a lifeline. His eyes were fixed at the beautiful manor in front of them, but his expression wasn’t one of happiness. His hazel orbs glazed over slightly as something green and dark reflected in their depths.

Lily frowned, turned around… and was instantly thankful that James was holding onto her with a tight grip because she was sure she would have collapsed otherwise.

There, right in front of her, floating directly over the white, ancient looking house was the Dark Mark. Her brain went numb as she stared at the green skull and the snake that slithered through its mouth again and again.

She couldn’t say what happened after that – everything was in fragments. She felt James moving, running towards his childhood home, dragging her with him. They sprinted over the property, up the stairs and threw themselves against the wooden swing doors. With a loud creak they flew open, admitting the most horrific scene she had ever had to witness in her entire life.

Blood sprinkles and stains covered everything; the marble floor, the wooden walls, even the furniture. Side tables were thrown over, chairs and cloaks lay beneath what looked like dark goo and an umbrella was trapped under a once beautiful and probably quite expensive long case clock. Lily’s eyes caught the only thing that was left untouched – a bunch of blood-red flowers. She gulped. What happened here?

“Mum?” James’ voice pulled her out of her shock. “Dad?” He hurried through the ruined hallway and pushed a door open. He gasped as he saw the kitchen’s interior smashed completely. There were black spots on the walls and the cabinets which had originated from curses hitting the surroundings rather than the inhabitants. Lily followed James and her breath hitched at the sight of pieces of cake and pastries on the floor. A light brown puddle of liquid wetted the floor, a broken tea kettle right in the middle.

James started to tremble as his eyes darted across his ruined home. His breathing sped up. He tried to calm himself down, but it seemed to be impossible. He tried to tell himself that his parents were okay, but it seemed nearly ridiculous. What he could see right in front of his eyes was more than obvious, but he refused to accept the possibility that his parents might not be…

He whirled around and dashed back into the hallway, closely followed by a horrified Lily. The parlour looked exactly the same; back through the hallway into the downstairs study… He was doing his best to stop himself from hyperventilating as he tore through the hallway and up the stairs onto the first floor, running into every single room, not even leaving out the multiple bathrooms or his room. He was gasping for air and wincing as his sides gave a painful twinge, but he refused to stop running and screaming for him parents. They had to be here somewhere!

Lily never left the young Potter alone. She ran after him, yelling his parents’ names, trying to find the two people who had raised the amazing person that was close to losing his mind.

After what felt like hours, they were back in the hallway, gasping for air and clutching their sides. They had been in every single room of the house and had not found even the slightest sign that the two elder Potters had been there except broken furniture and curse marks. They weren’t even sure anymore if there even had been a fight in every single room of the manor. It did seem unlikely for the Death Eaters and the two former Aurors to travel through the entire house during their fight. It looked more like a personal act, destroying everything that reminded the Potters of a happy and safe past. The only logical thing to do when being overrun by Voldemort’s followers would be…

As if on cue, the two young magicians sprinted out of the house and into the back garden.

“ _NO_!” James’ scream ripped right through Lily’s heart as she stared at the two people, lying in the grass next to each other. She had seen the Potters on Platform 9 ¾ a couple of times. Mr. Potter’s glasses, as round and his son’s, were half sitting on, half hanging off his nose, one glass broken. His blue eyes were half closed, staring into the blue sky above him, unseeing. His wife had her hand stretched out towards his, as if in a last attempt to keep them together, to stay by his side until the very end. Her dark brown hair was knotted and fanned out around her head like a pool of dead leaves lying around the trunk of a tree. James had inherited her eyes, which were now staring, unmoving, seeing nothing, still glistening with unshed tears.

Lily’s hand snapped up towards her mouth as she tried to suppress a sob. James was breaking down next to her, his knees were shaking, his whole being trembled with horror, fear and hopelessness as he stumbled forward and fell to the ground right next to his mother.

“Mum?” The whispered words did the rest. Lily’s breath hitched and tears flowed out of her eyes and over her pale cheeks. James was shaking his mother’s shoulder gently, prodding it softly with his hand as if to tell her to wake up already.

He looked so lost, sitting there next to his motionless parents, his home in ruins, his whole life turned upside down. The eerie presence of the Dark Mark loomed over them as his sobs got louder and stronger. They ripped through his whole being, shook him from deep inside. He felt lost, desperate, afraid and lonely. What had happened? He had just been away for half an hour at most and when he came back…

All strength flowed out of his body as he collapsed next to his only family, wetting the green grass with his tears and sorrow.

He had had an inkling of what he would find when he had arrived at the manor a few minutes ago; there had been a dark feeling, a horrible sensation that felt as if he had been plunged in ice cold water. All feeling had left him, leaving only a shell behind that could feel nothing but foreboding fear.

In one single moment he had lost everything.

His throat hurt, his eyes burned and he was exhausted. He thought he had cried all the tears there were to cry, but when Lily stumbled over to him and pulled him towards her, holding him tightly, he started sobbing once again. Floods of salty tears ran over his skin as he clutched onto one of the only people he had left.

A shaky hand ran through his hair as he tried to get control over his emotions. The knowledge of his dead parents lying next to him made it nearly impossible to concentrate on anything else.

The red-haired witch seemed to think along the same lines because she stood up slowly, shakily, helping her boyfriend onto his feet and started to guide him back towards the manor, through the hallway and out of the house.

Like a very wise wizard had once told them not so long ago, a war was coming and they needed to be prepared. On this very day, July 1977, they were sure they would have to fight. Voldemort didn’t stop when it came to hurting or murdering old wizarding families and they knew they had to do all in their might to stop him.

Lord Voldemort was just another maniac, trying to take over the world, so they had thought. But today had shown them what exactly that meant; for them and everybody they loved. Today had shown them what he was really capable of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it!
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
> 
> Until next time - see ya!


	2. An End is the Start of Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything has an end, but the end doesn't mean that it's over. It's Halloween '81, the end of James and Lily Potter's mortal life, but the start of a new one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was for Harry Potter's World on FFN, Charms class. It's a fairly new one :)
> 
> Prompts:  
> Charms: Write a story where the first word is, "Goodbye" and the last word is, "Hello."  
> Quidditch Pitch: (weather) mist, (genre) Spiritual, (Non-canon pairning) Hermione x Harry, Severus x Regulus, Ron x Luna
> 
> Enjoy reading!

**An End is the Start of Something New**

“Goodbye.”

Lily choked and pressed both hands over her mouth as she watched Rubeus Hagrid carry their son out of their ruined house. She couldn’t believe it. A mere hour ago, everything had been alright.

They had just finished their dinner and Harry had really enjoyed his pasta. She and James had grinned at each other, both thinking the same thing – that they now knew one more favourite of Harry’s – and then everything had gone to hell. It was all replaying before her eyes all over again - a yell from James, a crash that came from the front door, her hurried footsteps that were rushing up the stairs, Harry’s soft whimpers, a bright green light... laughter.

A sob escaped her.

The ruined remains of their once warm and inviting home were surrounding them. Cracks in the walls, a collapsed roof, debris could be found everywhere. She couldn’t bring herself to look more closely, though, because she knew what she would find – both her and James’ body, broken, unmoving, dead.

Once warm arms circled around her, holding her close. They only reminded her of what they had lost, but she couldn’t keep herself from turning around and clinging on her husband’s clothes. Gentle hands rubbed over her back, soft lift brushed against her hair. He was trembling, but trying very hard to keep himself under control, to stay strong for both her and his sake. He couldn’t, no, _wouldn’t_ allow himself to break down now, because if he allowed himself to feel, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

A loud and extremely familiar voice echoed through the dark night and the young parents jumped. After a quick glance at each other, James took Lily’s hand and pulled her down the stairs, walking right through his own body and out of the house. He did his best to not shiver as he saw his own eyes stare right back at him, a determined expression still fixed on his features.

“Don’t look,” he said as he heard his wife gasp. “Don’t look, Lily.”

Not having the need to jump over any debris anymore, they made their way to the front door in record time. It wasn’t easy to ignore how his home looked like. Upon seeing his son’s pram broken in one corner, he nearly lost it, but a loud discussion kept him focused.

“’m sorry, Sirius. Can’t do anythin’ ‘bout it, yer know?”

“He’s my Godson!”

James’ eyes widened as he saw his best friend and brother block the half giant’s way. His eyes were red rimmed and wild, tears were streaming down his face. His usually perfect and smooth hair was dishevelled and stuck to the sides of his face. He looked frightening.

“J-James and Lily w-wanted me to look after their son, Hagrid! You can’t t-take him away from me! He’s all I have left!”

Wringing his hands, Sirius had to visibly restrain himself to not just lunch forward, grab the little boy he loved like his own, and run for it. He had to tell himself that it would make things even worse, that he wouldn’t be helping little Harry, but frighten him even more.

Hagrid shook his head, his wild hair swishing from one side to the other. Harry was lying in his arms, his face red and wet from the tears that kept falling from his eyes. Small uttered words could be heard, never loud enough for James and Lily to understand.

The latter let go of James’ hand and hurried past the giant. She had known Hagrid all her life and she was sure he had a reason for his behaviour, but all she wanted right now was to see her son safe in Sirius’ arms. She never thought that she’d actually say the word _safe_ in the same sentence as _Sirius_ , but she trusted that man with her life, which included her son.

Her heart broke as she could finally see little Harry’s tear-streaked face. A loud cry escaped her, hearing the soft calling for “Mama” and “Dada”. She couldn’t breathe. She felt as if her heart was being ripped out of her ribcage, leaving a gaping hole behind. Her throat constricted, his breast kept rising and falling faster with every second. She couldn’t handle this. She couldn’t bear to see her son so lost, so hurt and confused.

“Give him to me, Hagrid,” Sirius’ voice was flat and cold as ice.

Harry’s big, green eyes focused on his Godfather, not caring about his tone. His little, chubby hands pointed in his direction, grabbing at the air, asking to be picked up and held tightly. Hagrid turned his upper body away from the desperate wizard, who didn’t want anything more than hold his Godson.

“Please,” he whispered, his eyes filled up with tears again.

Hagrid turned around even more, making it impossible for both Harry and Sirius to see each other.

“’m really sorry, Sirius,” he said in his low voice. Both James and Lily could hear the regret in it. He didn’t want this to happen. He wanted to give Sirius what he needed, but he couldn’t.

James pulled Lily towards Harry, standing close to his son. He raised a hand to run it through his already slightly messy hair. It was the softest thing he had ever felt in his whole life and he didn’t get enough of feeling it over and over again. But as his hand touch the first strand of his son’s hair, it went right through it.

Pain jolted through his heart as he watched his trembling hand glide through his baby boy’s head. His Harry didn’t feel anything, didn’t react at all. The tears kept rolling out of his big, beautiful eyes and no-one was able to calm him down, tell him he was loved and that everything would be okay.

James took a deep breath, fighting against tears of his own. Lily, who had grabbed his arm a while ago, tightened her hold, squeezing his biceps firmly. Her breathing was irregular, just as his, he was sure.

“Why?”

James swallowed. He turned his head towards his friend, who looked defeated, hopeless and... empty. His eyes were dull, no moisture was left to be spilled.

“Dumbledore’s orders. Gotta bring ‘im to his only relatives, yer see?” Hagrid scratched the top of his head. He was uncomfortable, James could very clearly see that, but he didn’t feel any pity at all.

“ _I_ am his family, Hagrid!” Sirius tried again and moved a few steps to the left to be able to see his Godson. Hagrid moved away from him.

“’m sorry, Sirius. I like yer and I get what yer goin’ through right now, but I got orders. Dumbledore trusts me.”

“You don’t get anything.” A humourless chuckle escaped James’ friend. “You don’t know what those Muggles are like, and neither does Dumbledore. This is not Dumbledore’s duty to look after! It’s _mine_! _I_ am his _Godfather_ , Hagrid! You can’t bring him to these people!”

“Sorry, I can’t let yer. ‘m really sorry.”

A shiver ran through Sirius and then he went completely still. James gulped. He had never seen the man he thought of as a brother like this. All life had left him, leaving behind nothing but a shell of the once mischievous and life-loving wizard.

Harry whimpered and started to wiggle around, clearly not wanting to be held anymore.

A twitch went through Lily, as she started to lean forward automatically, wanting to pick her son up. James nearly broke down when he saw the realisation hit her. He couldn’t bear it anymore. He couldn’t watch as Dumbledore ruined their son’s life by denying Sirius his right and damning his sweet baby boy to a life of misery.

He had met the Dursleys once before in his life and he had not enjoyed it. Now had Harry, come to think of it. Their son Dudley had kept trying to hit Harry. No matter how often his mother had reluctantly pulled him away from their boy, he had still succeeded in making him cry. After that day, they had promised themselves that Harry would never have to go through this again, or even lay an eye on his so-called aunt, uncle and cousin.

How wrong they had been.

A new wave of defeat hit Sirius as he watched Hagrid smile at him sadly, gently shush Harry, who had started softly crying again and made his way down the gravel path and onto the street. This part of the Potters’ home looked eerily out of place. Every flower, every piece of grass looked like it had when he had come over for a visit only three days ago.

“Wait, Hagrid,” Sirius said, his voice was soft, barely over a whisper.

Lily was clutching onto James’ shirt as they followed Hagrid and Harry down the path. Tears were streaming down their faces.

“Take my motorbike.”

James blinked and stared at his best friend. Sirius _loved_ his motorbike. It had taken him months to convince his friend to let him at least ride with him, even if Sirius was the one behind the handlebar. Of course, Sirius had planned from the first second on that he would take Harry for a ride as soon as he was old enough. He never let anyone even touch his bike. Peter – James ground his teeth and unconsciously tightened his hold on Lily – had not even been allowed within a radius of three metres from his beloved bike. Why would he give it to Hagrid without putting up a fight? Why would he hand his bike over voluntarily, carelessly?

“I won’t need it anymore,” came the emotionless answer, as Hagrid looked at him with a questioning glance.

“That’s really nice o’ yer, Sirius,” Hagrid said, smiling through his tears. “Really nice.”

“Yeah... yeah....”

James felt that it wouldn’t be long now until Harry would be taken away from them. He could feel it deep down, and he was sure that Lily could feel it too. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched the half giant mount the motorbike. He couldn’t be serious! It was freezing cold out here! He didn’t seriously plan on riding that flying bike with their son in his arms, who was merely wearing his pyjamas?!

As if he had heard James’ disbelieving thought, Hagrid pushed his hand into one of the many pockets of his huge jacket and pulled a light blue baby blanket out of its depth.

James choked, tears welling up in his eyes as Harry immediately calmed down upon seeing his beloved blanket. It was a birthday present he had got from James’ parents, Harry’s grandparents, who had not lived to meet him. They had given them the blanket as part of their wedding gift, with clear instruction as what to do with it once the time came.

James and Lily watched helplessly as the huge man wrapped the blanket around their whimpering son. Lily raised her arm as if to help him. James’ tightened his hold on her, to keep both her and him from running to the motorbike, which held their only son, their baby boy.

“G’night, Sirius,” Hagrid said and wiped his huge hand over his eyes, sniffling. “D’yer wanna say g’bye to Harry?”

Sirius’ head jerked up, his eyes focused on the scene in front of him; Hagrid on his motorbike, holding his Godson, about to leave him behind, taking his life with him. He swallowed and tried to smile. A trembling hand touched baby Harry’s rosy cheek, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he watched his Godson yawn widely. He had been through hell and back today. He needed peace and quietness.

Sirius knew he couldn’t do anything about Dumbledore’s actions. The old man had to have some reason for all of this, but that didn’t mean that he had to agree with him. To be frank, though, he couldn’t quite bring himself to feel much of anything right now. All he wanted to feel was sadness. He wanted to be able to mourn the loss of his friends that he had, and still did, thought of as his family, but he was under shock. So he couldn’t do much more than step back as the engine of his once beloved motorbike came to life, its sound echoing through the freezing night.

Hagrid straightened his Godson in his arms, making sure he was lying secure and comfortable, before he nodded to Sirius and, with one last glance back towards the ruined house, drove down the road, picking up speed and lifting off the ground.

Lily forced herself to keep standing as she watched the half giant fly away with the one person she could not live without. Her husband pressed a kiss to her temple, his breath harsh and irregular. He tried his best not to completely break down; she was trying to do the same for him. They needed each other now. They had to focus on Harry. Maybe Petunia would get over her resentment, which had bordered hate, towards her. Maybe she would see Harry for who he really was; a small boy, who had just lost his parents, and not a freak, who was the son of her freak sister and her freak brother-in-law.

She would try and make herself believe that her stubborn sister would be able to chance and to actually _feel_ , because if she didn’t manage to convince herself, she would break down and not be able to stand back up again.

A soft sound from James made her open her eyes. She had not noticed that she had squeezed them shut as soon as the motorbike with her baby boy had vanished from sight.

She looked up at James, who was still holding onto her, as if to make sure he wouldn’t topple over. He was staring at his best friend, his hazel eyes wide, his gentle mouth slightly open, his strong eyebrows pulled together.

Sirius was standing on the path that led to their destroyed house. The moon was casting an eerie light on the scene, illuminating his face, highlighting his elegant features. His arms were hanging at his sides, unmoving. His back was slightly bent forward, leaving his loose hair to last unnatural shadows on his aristocratic face.

Slowly, James pulled Lily forward. They crept towards their friend. Fear grabbed Lily’s heart. Something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. She glanced up to her husband, whose gaze was fixed on his friend.

“Sirius?” he asked softly, knowing very well that his friend couldn’t hear him.

Sirius’ hand twitched. A dark shadow that had nothing to do with the moon passed over his face. His eyes flashed.

“James?” Lily whispered and tugged on her husband’s sleeve. “I don’t like this....”

James made a soft, unsure sound and jerked out of the way as Sirius sprang into action. His eyes were ablaze, his face pale as death. He had his wand in his hand, which wasn’t trembling anymore. He held it still, secure. His cold eyes, which had once held so much life in them, turned towards their house one last time, before his feet started carrying him down the path, through the open gate and onto the street.

Without a last glance back towards Lily and James, he disapparated.

James stared at the spot that had just held his friend. What just happened? Dread flooded his being, drowning all of his other worries. He had a very bad feeling about this. He knew his friend and he knew that nobody could reason with him if he was in that mood.

It had happened once before, when he had found out about his brother not returning after supposedly going Voldemort. He had lost all control over his temper, not caring for consequences. James had been the only one who had been able to calm him down. It had taken a couple of hours of trying to block the door and the windows, cast _Reparo_ after _Reparo_ on various objects and swallow each and every reply that could have only aggravated him further, but he had managed it. But now? Now he wasn’t there anymore. He wasn’t there to stay by his friend’s side; he wasn’t there to keep bad things from happening!

“I have a really bad feeling about this,” James said softly.

“You don’t think he’ll do something stupid, do you?” Lily’s voice trembled, her hand fumbled for James’.

“I really hope he won’t.”

Silence engulfed them. No birds or even owls could be heard. The small animals that lived underground, in between leaves or behind rocks were silent. No sound could be heard except their own breathing. It was unsettling.

“What now?” Lily sniffled and wiped her sleeve over her eyes. They were red and puffy, but in James’ eyes, she had never looked more beautiful. _Until death do us apart_ , he thought dryly and pushed a strand of hair away from her glistening eyes. _Yeah, right._

Gently, he brushed his hand over her cheek, smiling slightly at the way she leaned into his touch. “I don’t know, love,” he said, blinking rapidly.

What now? That was a very good question. What did one do if you’d just lost everything that made you _you_? If you’d just lost your house, your son... your life?

They held onto each other for what felt like hours, seeking solace in each other.

After a while, both Lily and James started to feel detached. The wind lost its strength, the colours their intensity and the shapes their sharpness.

Lily blinked and jerked her hand back, staring at James. He was still there, as solid and existent as he’d ever been. He was returning her fearful glance for a moment, before his beautiful eyes jumped from object to object; from the house, to the gate; from the gate, to the tree in their neighbour’s garden. Their surroundings were getting blurry and bright. Their eyes threatened to water, but not out of sorrow.

“What the...” James wondered out loud and pulled Lily tighter against himself, holding onto her to keep him grounded.

Lily was clutching him as tightly as she possibly could, fearing that she might lose him forever if she ever let go.

A white mist started wafting towards them, engulfing them, blinding them to everything but each other and welcomed them into the afterlife.

*~*The Potters*~*

It was a nice day outside. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping.

Lily had always thought the afterlife would be like paradise – to live in the clouds, look down upon the world of the living, seeing loved ones again that died years ago – but she had been surprised as she and James had arrived all those decades ago. It was actually much like their life on earth. She obviously didn’t know where they were right about now; whether this was still the earth she was born into, some sort of parallel earth or something completely different, but she didn’t really care. It wasn’t as if it really mattered.

Life here was just like back then. They lived in their home in Godric’s Hollow, had Sirius visit every so often, had breakfast, lunch, dinner, went to bed and out for walks. They were enjoying life like always, and if it weren’t for the fact that they very well remembered their day of death, they would think they never died.

But it was difficult to forget that day, and neither Lily nor James wanted to forget. Because forgetting that day would mean forgetting their son, what he had looked like, how he had been like. Forgetting their son was something unforgivable and therefore they were thankful that their memory remained as it was – intact.

At first, it had been weird to think of their life now of a mere continuation, because that was how it had felt at the time. Everything had been destroyed, but somehow, it had felt as if they were still at home. Living in the same village, in the same house with the same decorations, burn marks from Sirius and James’ experimentations and books lying around, it had felt the same. The only huge thing that had been missing had been their son.

A few years after they had arrived here, someone had knocked on their door. Lily had thought it would be their neighbour, asking for flour, but it had been someone entirely different; someone, who had caused James to nearly faint.

Sirius Orion Black had not aged one day since the time they had last seen him in person, and, judging by the snippets of daily life they got from Harry, he should have aged at least fifteen years. He should have looked older, but he hadn’t.

Neither James, nor Sirius had minded much, but Lily had always been an interested person, who loved a good riddle, so that was when she had started to think.

At first it hadn’t made much sense, since both she and James had stayed the same, but after old friends had joined them over the years, she had started to come up with a theory.

Each and every one of their friends had been of a different age, which had been off-putting at first. After all, if you saw someone for their eightieth birthday, you wouldn’t think the next time you’d see them, they’d be in their forties….

The only logical thing the red-haired witch had come up with was that every human being had one distinct moment in their lives that would be more important than any of the rest. For them, it had been Harry’s birth, but since they had died roughly one and a half years later, they had not noticed much of a change. It had been when Sirius had joined them that Lily knew what was going on.

Having to watch Sirius be locked into Azkaban, devoid of any emotion or life, watch him flee and reunite with Harry… he had changed. The Sirius that had strolled over their threshold on the other hand had looked just like they were used to. For him, the distinct moment of his life had been them dying. With them, part of him died as well, leaving being only a shadow of who he had once been.

She sighed as the kettle started whistling. It was time for some nice tea and crumpets and knowing Sirius, he would be around anytime soon. A weekend with tea and crumpets wouldn’t be complete without Sirius Black sitting on the couch, whining about how disgustingly happy his brother and Severus of all people were and eating all of the bakery bits and bobs she had either made herself or got from the bakery in the centre of the little town.

Peeking at the clock on the kitchen wall, she noted that it was nearly three in the afternoon. The wizarding radio was playing in the background, forcing an old Celestina Warbeck song onto the innocent listeners.

“That thing really needs to add a few more radio stations. This isn’t healthy anymore,” James grumbled and fingered his wand. “If I could just...”

“You will do nothing to that radio, James,” Lily said in a stern voice, carrying a tray filled with cups, sugar, milk and tea into the living room. “I remember very well what happened last time when you tried to program a new radio station into that thing. I’ve been vanishing soot out of the carpet for days!”

James ducked, blushing bright pink. He hadn’t thought that the radio would combust if you hit it with a tinkering charm. Sirius had suggested the combination of an alternating charm and a finding charm, which he had used, of course, because he had not had a better idea at that time.

Looking back now, though, he had to admit that an alternating and finding charm combination would not have been the most intelligent thing to do. It basically caused the radio device to look for something that could improve it and start adding those improvements at the exact moment in which the finding charm found them. All in all, installing vague ideas of improvement had changed the charm itself, turning the effects around and basically turned the whole radio into a bomb. Until then, he had not known what a bomb was, but Lily had made sure that he wouldn’t forget it anytime soon.

A knock pulled him out of his reverie. Lily had just put the tray onto the tea table and straightened.

“That has to be Sirius,” she said and motioned for James to stay where he was. “Don’t worry, I’ll get the door.”

She made her way through the sunlit living room and into the little hallway. Their cloaks were hanging on the wall, their shoes were resting underneath. The pram that had been destroyed on Halloween ’81 had not made its appearance in this house, and Lily thought that it was to keep them from staying attached to the world that still held their baby boy.

She shook her head, her red hair waving from side to side. She couldn’t think of that.

As she made her way to the front door, another knock echoed through the house.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Lily mumbled and rolled her eyes at the antics of their friend. Shortly wondering why he hadn’t used the Floo, she grabbed the door’s handle, turned it and pulled open the door.

The sun was beaming into the hallway, blinding her momentarily. She blinked furiously, trying to get adjusted to the bright light and raised a hand to shield her eyes.

“Come on in, Sirius,” she said, still blinking at the person, who was standing in what looked like a halo of sunlight, not moving an inch. “I’ve just made tea and James is...”

She froze.

The wizard that was standing in front of her wasn’t Sirius Black. Sure, he had the same hair colour as her friend, but that was about it. He was taller than her, but slightly smaller than James. His figure was lean and athletic, not bulky or overly muscular. His hair was messy, pointing in every direction and the sun’s rays were reflecting off of the man’s glasses.

She knew him.

“Harry?” she whispered softly. Her hand slid off the doorknob numbly. Before she knew it, she had started trembling all over.

“Hi, Mum,” the man said in a low voice, not moving an inch.

Lily gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. This couldn’t be real! This couldn’t be.... But of course it could be. It was possible that this was....

She couldn’t formulate a coherent sentence as she stood in the doorway, staring at the handsome man in front of her, who looked so much like James.

The sun had been covered by a cloud, giving her the opportunity to really look at him. His black hair had the same colour than James’, his ears were the same shape as her father’s, the jaw line had the same shape as James’, yet slightly softer. His nose was shorter than her husband’s, rounder at the tip and she felt a shock go through her as she recognized herself in it as well.

The last feature she was looking at was his eyes. As Harry had been a baby, he had taken her eye colour. She had been ecstatic, boasting about it to everyone who would stand still for long enough. James had pouted for about five minutes before being able to snatch the baby out of her arms to really look at his big, almond shaped eyes, and he had immediately fallen in love with them.

Seeing them now in person, after so many years, being able to see them look at her, take in every small detail was an incredible feeling.

Before her thoughts couldn’t catch up with her actions, she had rushed forward and slung her arms around her boy’s neck, pulling him down into the tightest, crushing hug she had given anyone in a really long time.

“Mum,” her son mumbled and closed his arms around her, burying his face into the crook of her neck. He inhaled deeply and a sense of deep calmness flooded him; a calmness he had never felt before. It was a feeling that no-one other than his mother could give him; not Hermione as she had embraced him after the war, after he had finally found the courage to tell her how he felt; not Mrs. Weasley, who had been more of a mother to him than anyone.

Lily rubbed her son’s back gently, holding him even tighter as she felt him started to tremble with suppressed sobs. Warm tears hit her skin as Harry clutched at her shirt, inhaled her scent and finally let go.

James and she had been able to keep watch over their son. They had peeked into the world of the living every now and then to make sure everything was alright. They had witnessed his relationships, their ups and downs. The Cho girl, as well as the Weasley girl had been sweet people, but she had always known that her boy would end up with his best friend Hermione Granger.

Having to watch them dance around each other had been torture. James and Sirius had discussed how they could manage to send a message down to earth, telling both Hermione and Harry that Ron would end up with that funny Luna girl and they were to finally stop being so blind and bloody stupid and _get on with it_ , as Sirius had exclaimed. Watching the teens run after each other, cry over the other without knowing that the opposite did and felt exactly the same was downright painful.

Watching him confess his feelings, plan the proposal, fret over the wedding... she had never been more proud of him.

Harry sniffled softly and let go of her, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Lily wiped the tears out of her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe it. She had her baby boy back! Although, looking at her son now, she had to once again tell herself that he wasn’t her baby anymore. He was a grown-up man, standing there in front of her, looking as handsome and shy as ever.

“Come on in, sweetheart,” she smiled and ushered him over the threshold.

Harry’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. He had to take a deep breath to keep his eyes dry. How often he had watched memories of people who had known his parents, who had been able to show him scenes out of their daily life. Being able to watch a memory in which his mother called him _sweetheart_ or _darling_ was one thing, and even then he managed to become emotional every time, no matter how many times he had dived into the Pensieve. Hearing it in person, though, was an entirely different matter.

He smiled shyly and sniffled again. He couldn’t believe that this was really happening. The last thing he remembered was going to bed and putting an ages arm over Hermione’s waist, pulling her towards him and inhaling her fresh scent, feeling completely at peace. The next thing he knew, he opened his eyes and saw the statue of Godric’s Hollow.

Seeing himself and his parents cut in stone would never be a sight he’d get used to, he had thought, fully believing that he was dreaming. Like always, he had made his way onto the graveyard, wanting to visit his parents’ graves, but as he had arrived, he had not only seen his parents’ names on the tombstone, but his as well. There, right next to _James_ and _Lily Potter_ was the name _Harry Potter_ engraved into the stone. The date underneath his name marked the day he had fallen asleep with his wife in his arms.

It had taken a while to fully comprehend what had happened and before he’d known it, the sun told him it was midday.

“Lily?”

Harry jumped slightly and looked from the doorway that led to another room to his mother and back again.

Lily smiled knowingly and turned towards the living room. “Could you come here for a second, James?”

Harry’s heart started to beat faster and faster. His father was mere metres away from him and he hadn’t even thought about it! The shock of truly seeing his mother again had wiped every thought of the possibilities out of his mind.

Porcelain hitting glass, feet shuffling around and steps coming towards the hallway they were currently standing in made Harry take a deep breath to calm himself.

A dishevelled head poked around the corner. The questioning expression made way for shock. For a moment, they all stared at each other; James started at Harry, who stared right back, and Lily’s gaze jumped from her son to her husband and back again.

“Harry?” his father asked after what felt like ages.

A shy smile tucked at the corners of his mouth, his eyes still taking in every feature on the, theoretically, older man’s face. He could see why everyone told him he looked like James Potter, with the only obvious exception being the eyes, because if one didn’t look close enough, one could think that Harry was James’ twin and not his son.

“Hello, Dad.”

“I can’t believe it.” James shook his head slowly, disbelieving. Coming back to life, he straightened and slowly set one foot in front of the other until he reached his son. He was still shaking his head, as he reached forward and touched Harry’s cheek. “This can’t be....”

Lily felt herself tear up again as she watched son and father reunite. Her heart felt close to bursting, swelling with pride and love.

She knew that seeing her son stand in front of them meant that her baby had died, leaving behind a wife, two kids, five grandchildren and a lot of friends. Although a small part of her hurt thinking about the end of her son’s life, an even bigger part felt overwhelming joy and gratefulness to be able to embrace her son again, feel him in her arms, feel his soft hair underneath her fingers and his warm skin underneath her lips.

A tear slid past her eyes and over her cheek, as James sprang to life and tackled their son, embracing him tightly, ruffling his hair and muttering words of endearment into his ear.

*~*The Potters*~*

Laughter filled the room as James recalled yet another Marauders story that he had died to tell his son; pun not intended. Harry was grinning widely, his eyes shining with happiness and mirth, enjoying the presence of his parents.

This wasn’t a dream and he had finally come to accept it. Yes, he was dead. Yes, Hermione had to have woken up next to him, without a clue as to what had happened whilst they were both sleeping. His heart gave a painful thud as he thought about his family. He didn’t want them to suffer, but he knew them too well as to really hope they wouldn’t.

A loud _dong_ pulled him out of his depressing thoughts and he looked at his parents with a frown on his once again eighteen year-old self. Lily watched at her son frowned. He looked just like he did when he had won the war. There was a familiar glimmer in his eyes, letting them shine with such relief and happiness, that she couldn’t believe her luck. She had him back. It was only now really sinking in.

“What was that?”

James chuckled. “The Floo.”

A quick _Tempus_ Charm told him it was past five in the afternoon. “I was wondering when Sirius might show up. Usually he’s here even before Lily was able to get the crumpets out of the oven.”

A jolt went through him, as Harry stared at his father. _Sirius_. Sirius was about to arrive! An old and sudden wave of guilt swept over him. It didn’t matter how many times Hermione, Ron or even the portrait of Dumbledore had told him that it had not been his fault that Sirius had died that day so many years ago. He still felt responsible. Not having thought about him until now worsened that feeling.

A light hand touched his arm and Harry blinked. He hadn’t noticed that tears had begun gathering in his eyes again.

Lily smiled sadly at him. She raised her free hand and gently brushed the salty tear off of his cheek.

“It wasn’t you fault, sweetheart,” she said and cupped his cheek in her hand.

Inhaling deeply, Harry leaned into the loving touch.

“He doesn’t make you responsible either. He knows better than to do that. The fault never lay with you, honey.”

Harry nodded and wiped a forceful hand over his eyes. He didn’t have the energy to cry anymore; whether it was because of happiness, sadness, pain or guilt.

Another _dong_ chimed through the living room and within a second the flickering flames turned bright green. Hissing furiously, they spit out a very sooty and ill-tempered wizard.

James snorted, but shut up after Lily hit him on the arm.

“Bloody hell,” the wizard exclaimed and stepped out of the fireplace, shaking soot onto every nearby surface.

Lily scowled disapprovingly.

“I swear to Merlin, one day, I will smother that bloody brother of mine if he won’t stop gushing about how adorable Sniffelus is. This is bloody disgusting to be listening to on a daily basis and because of him I missed the crumpe--“

Lily cleared her throat and Sirius looked up, stopping in his rant immediately as he spotted the teenage wizard sitting on the couch, nursing a now cold cup of tea. His eyes widened almost comically, his mouth agape.

After a few moments of silence, James’ chuckles broke the tension and a wide smile spread over Sirius’ handsome face.

“Harry! Finally! Took you long enough to finally visit your parents! Hello!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! It took ages to write, but I really enjoyed it.
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
> 
> Until next time - see ya! :D


	3. Becoming Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Lily will become parents. But how to break the news to their friends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a little drabble that I wrote a long time ago.
> 
> Enjoy reading!

**Becoming parents**

„James?“

James‘ head jerked up as his wife moved into the living room of their little but homey cottage in Godric’s Hollow. She was carrying two glasses of lemonade – a muggle drink he was quite fond of, especially during summer – and made her way over to the couch he was currently sitting on. A smile grazed her beautiful features as he took a sip of the lemonade, relishing its coolness as it ran down his throat.

“James, I want to talk to you about something”, she said, eying her husband curiously and a little nervous.

 _Ah, that’s why she brought the lemonade_ , James smiled at that thought. _Of course she would use that to bribe me into doing her bidding. But that’s what I love about her... as well as many, many more things.. okay, I’m losing concentration here…_

“What is it, Lils?”

Lily blushed slightly. She looked so adorable when her cheeks were doing that.

“I want to have a baby”, she said rather quickly. Upon seeing his raised eyebrows, she began to elaborate nervously. “Well, you see, I was talking to Alice and Mum about it actually. You know, I’ve always wanted a child of my own and you also know that I didn’t want to become a mother being this young but I was thinking and –“

Her speech was interrupted as James lips crashed on hers and shut her up quite effectively. When they moved away from each other, breathing heavily, James beamed at her like he had never beamed at her before.

“Do you even have to ask?"

*~*Jily*~*

One month later:

“We have to tell you something.” James looked into the expectant faces of his friends. They were currently sitting in the living room, next to him a trembling Lily, in front of him Remus, Sirius and Peter, all were staring at them and waiting for him to explain.

James took a deep breath to calm down. He and Lily had planned it beforehand. They had talked about how to break the news to their best friends and had agreed that it would be an easy thing to do. But being in the _real_ situation, having to feel the _real_ nervous energy bumping through his veins was a whole different matter. What would they think of them? Well, obviously they were in love, married and lived together. They had accomplished all of that and would be parents in approximately eight months, so why couldn’t he tell them? For the obvious reason – they were really young to have done all these things and now they ‘burden’ themselves with the responsibility of having a child. But he knew they’ve made the right decision and he had never been prouder than at that day when Lily had told him she was pregnant. It even rivalled his wedding day – which was a big thing for him to manage, mind you. He had never thought he would ever be happier than at that day, when Lily had walked down the aisle, taken his hand und had promised him to always be by his side.

The light pressure of Lily’s hand sqeezing his brought him back to the present and to the slightly irritated and confused looks on their friends’ faces. He blushed and cleared his throat to win him some time.

 _Okay, how to do this?_ Once again, he took a deep breath, steadying himself for the upcoming discussion. Thinking this caused him to close his mouth again. What would they think of them? Of _him_? He was nineteen, for Merlin’s sake and he was about to tell them, he and Lily would become parents. _Oh, for all that’s holy…_ They were his _friends_! Of course, they wouldn’t condemn him for acting like this. Yes, he was the first Marauder to have a steady girlfriend, to propose to said girlfriend, marry her and move in with her. So what’s wrong with being the first Marauder to become a father? Nothing’s wrong with it! And they would accept it and they would be happy for him and Lily. They were his friends!

“Everything okay, honey?” Lily’s soft voice cut off his panicky stream of thought and reminded him of the reason they were all sitting together and staring at him.

“Our Prongsie here has gone completely nutters”, Sirius snickered and punched James against his knee. “Come on, Jamy! I’m supposed to be the only one that’s off his rocker. I’ve got a reputation to maintain here!”

Lily rolled her eyes. _Of course_.

James shot a glance at his wife, who was smiling encouragingly, turned around to his grinning friends and opened his mouth.

“Lily’s pregnant.” _There! That wasn’t so difficult, now was it?_

Silence followed his declaration and he gulped. _Maybe I shouldn’t have put it that bluntly? Oh, I think I’ve shocked them. Sirius doesn’t seem to breathe at all. That’s not good._

“Well, it’s not what you think!” James blinked. “Uhm, no, actually it’s exactly what you think. What I meant to say was… uhm…” Nervously, he ran his hand through his hair and tried desperately to get some sort of reaction out of his friends who he seemed to have scared stiff.

Lily squeezed his hand one last time, stood up, walked over to the three Marauders who were staring into space and hit them all over the head. James winced.

“Ow! What did you do that for?” Sirius pouted and rubbed the sore spot of the backside of his head.

“Nothing else worked”, Lily shook her head and sat back down next to her husband. “Now, before you guys say anything that one might regret afterwards”, she glared at Sirius, whose eyebrows shot upwards, “I know what it seems like and I know what people might think. We’re still really young, barely out of school and pregnant, but we’ve made that decision consciously, so we don’t regret anything. We just wanted you guys to know because you’re a part of this family.”

Remus was the first one to regain his senses. He stood up, his facial expression unreadable, and jumped on top of a totally bewildered James, who promptly fell off the couch, taking Remus with him. Sirius laughed hysterically and joined the commotion on the carpet.

“CONGRATULATIONS, MATE!”

Laughing, James pushed the two off of him and grinned from ear to ear. “So, you’re not mad?”

“Mad? Are you crazy?” Sirius laughed and hugged Lily, lifting her into the air and whirling her around.

“Ahh, Sirius! Put me down!”

Grinning, Sirius kissed her on the forehead, on both cheeks and knelt in front of her, pointing at her belly. “So that’s where my Godson or Goddaughter is?”

Lily laughed and grinned in James direction. “We’ll see about that.”

James had never been so happy.

*~*Jily*~*

Eight months later, a panicky and completely dishevelled and stressed looking James apparated a highly pregnant Lily into St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Her water had just broken and he had panicked. Lily, being her calm and organized self, had started to shout instructions at her husband who had run up the stairs, getting the Over-Night-Bag, into the office, scribbled a short letter to Remus, Sirius and Peter and had hurried back downstairs were Lily had already taking her and his coat out of the wardrobe.

He was currently sitting next to Lily’s bed and tried to sooth her vice like grip on his hand as a healer came through the door.

“Mr and Mrs Potter! Nice to see you. Ah, I think it’s time, isn’t it. Shall we?”

A couple of hours later, a beaming James Potter ran down the hallway in search of his best friends, screaming “A BOY! IT’S A BOY!”

Life was just perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't Long. I know. I hope you liked it anyway.
> 
> Leave a comment :)
> 
> Until next time - see ya!


	4. Interruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Lily Evans and Severus Snape want to do is study in the library - in peace. They didn't count the Marauders into the equation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this one, James and Lily aren't a couple yet. They're both too young for that as I had to write about Lily's second year xD But we all know it will happen!
> 
> Prompts:  
> (word) detention, (quote) 'Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.' - Douglas Adams, (word) appearance
> 
> Enjoy!

**Interruptions**

The calming sound of rustling paper was all one could hear. The sun was shining through the window at which we had chosen a table to load our books with and sit down to study.

Being a so called Muggleborn had its downsides, but having a friend like Severus, I never really had a problem with being raised a Muggle. When I came to Hogwarts last year, I knew literally nothing. I had read _Hogwarts: A History_ to somewhat prepare myself, but I was certain that I would have a disadvantage being one of the few Muggleborns at Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall had told me and my parents that it wasn't a bad thing for me to come out of a non-magical family, as there would be many others in the same situation. Every student would have to start at the beginning, she had said, whether Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn. It would be no difference to what group you belonged.

And I had believed her words. Severus, my first magical friend made sure that I didn't think any less of myself for not being raised in the  wizarding world, for all that counted was _who_ I was and not _what_ my family was or wasn't.

Although I did my best in all of my classes, eager to learn the still exciting things magic could offer, I did have some difficulty comprehending some things that Purebloods didn't seem to think of as curious.

Potions with Professor Slughorn was one of my favourite subjects, right along with Charms. Being in the dungeons, stirring steaming cauldrons full of colourful and powerful liquid, being surrounded by strange and curious looking objects and ingredients had something special. It produced an atmosphere that was unique for Potions class.

Yet my interest in the most peculiar subject didn't save me from having trouble understanding some of the steps one had to think of when brewing a potion. Luckily for me, Sev seemed to have also found a liking in the complicated art of potion making and that, also luckily for me, with more success than I had.

"Stirring clockwise three times ensures that the powdered unicorn horn has a chance to completely mix with the Flobberworm Mucus before adding the Asphodel. Asphodel and unicorn horn don't mix very well and if added too quickly, the Asphodel would cause the temperature to go up rapidly and thus igniting the Boomslang skin, which would lead to the potion basically exploding."

My eyebrows shot up as Sev looked at me calmly.

"It can explode?"

"Sure. Or have you not been present as Black and Potter's potion blew up last week?"

I scowled as he mentioned those two boys. Sadly I had to admit, they were also a part of my so called _family while in Hogwarts._ Sirius Black and James Potter were two guys that enjoyed getting into trouble and preferable drag others into it as well, causing not only them but other innocent house mates to get weeks’ worth of detention.

But not only that they delighted in causing havoc, no, they also didn't think studying was worth their time. Being heirs of two of the most powerful and rich wizarding families that exist, they don't have a care in the world. Outsiders would describe them as carefree or rambunctious, but I knew better. Potter and Black were nothing more or less than mischievous troublemakers that annoyed the rest of their classmates with immature pranks.

The universe seemed to feel the need to remind me that it hated me as the self-proclaimed _Marauders_ strut into the library. Potter and Black had cheeky grins on their faces, Pettigrew, a rather chubby boy, looked unsure, yet excited and Lupin looked nervous. He always looked nervous. Remus Lupin was probably one of the sanest people in Gryffindor Tower, so I didn't understand why he had to befriend people like Potter and Black. It made me want to reconsider my former impression of him...

Black's gaze paused on the table we were sitting at and a malicious grin sneaked onto his boyish features. Snickering, he hit his elbow into Potter's rips, whose head immediately whipped around. Seeing me sitting at the window with his favourite Slytherin had his meagre thoughts tap-dance in excitement as he hurried over to our table to, undoubtedly, make fun of me and Severus because that's just what he did to make himself feel like he's the most brilliant and funny person on this planet. It's sad that some people needed bullying to keep their ego inflated...

"What do you want, Potter?" I asked, annoyed, even before he could open his mouth to insult me and my friend.

His eyebrows shot up as he smirked down at me. Black snickered, Pettigrew grinned excitedly and Lupin rolled his eyes, but didn't do anything to stop what was about to come.

"Why, Evans! Did you miss me?" He asked cheekily, causing Black to bark his dog-like laugh.

I huffed and threw my quill down on the table, splattering drop of ink everywhere. "I did certainly _not_ miss you, _Potter_ , so don't even get excited. Now tell us what you want, so we can get back to doing something productive, not that you'd know what that means anyway." I glared as his grin widened even more.

"Oh, touchy," snickered Black behind him. I shot a glare towards him, shutting him up successfully.

"Well, Evans, if you really want to know, I'll tell you." His brown eyes sparkled with mischief as his gaze slowly left me and settled on Severus, who sat there, clutching his quill, staring right back. "I wanted to ask you whether you still haven't seen just what a slimy git Sniffely here is," he said to me, but didn't take his eyes off Severus.

I huffed as I glared into Potter's temple. How dare he?!

"I'll have you know-"

"You can't always judge people by their appearance," the idiot interrupted me. I ground me teeth together, doing my best not to have a temper tantrum in the library and thus alerting Madame Pince. On the other side... "But I fear that Sniffily here is an exception."

Black roared with laughter as Potter continued to smirk at Sev, who was blaring right back.

"Better that way than the other way around," he said in a soft voice.

Potter's eyebrows shot up again, clearly confused what his opposite meant.

"Having a functioning brain is something not everyone can call their own," he continued, unfazed by the furious expression on Potter's face. "What do _you_ in your free time, _Potter_? Learning how to fly around on a piece of wood, being chased by hexed pieces of leather? That is really impressive! You know what I think about that? Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Yet I have heard that wouldn't include you, now would it? That poor broomstick must have regretted ever being bought by you if it had known it would end up in two pieces."

" _How dare you?!_ " The red-faced Potter growled and took a step forward.

"What is going on?"

I whipped my head around and relief flooded me. Madame Pince glared at the four boys towering over Sev, her fists on her waist as she waited for an answer.

Potter and Black gulped noticeably, Lupin seemed unfazed, yet Pettigrew squeaked and hurried behind the other three boys. I rolled my eyes at this pathetic action.

"We were just asking Snape and Evans here how they were getting along with their studies," Black said innocently and smiled up at the strict librarian, who didn't believe him in the slightest.

"Get out of my library," she hissed and pointed towards the double doors, leading into the corridor. "All of you!"

Potter turned around quickly and hissed "This isn't over yet, Snivvely!"

" _Now!_ " And with that Madame Pince grabbed Potter and Black's cloak and dragged them into the corridor herself. Pettigrew scurried after them, whispering excitedly.

Lupin hesitated. He eyed Severus with a somewhat pained expression, nodded curtly and followed his friends that were just being shouted at out of the library.

Smirking satisfied, Sev went back to his book, thumbing through the pages until he stopped and pointed at a diagram at the top of the page.

"See?" He said, following the thicker line with his thin finger. "The temperature needs only two seconds to reach a critical point. The Boomslang skin will ignite within seconds if you don't remember the stirring procedure."

I stared at him as he continued our conversation as if the whole dispute with the Marauders hadn't just happened. I looked down at my quill that was lying next to my Potions book which was splattered with black ink and frowned.

The Marauders caused trouble everywhere they went. They didn't even stop from her books.

She shook her head and tried to go back to working on understanding the logic behind the difficult art of potion making, yet she couldn't stop thinking about _stupid, annoying Potter._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a little different, but I hope you liked it!
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
> 
> Until next time - see ya!


	5. Skipping The Admiration Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Falling in love is possible; even at a young age. Marlene McKinnon gets to experience it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one focuses a bit more on Marlene and her feelings towards a certain black-haired wizard.... That QLFC on FFN was all about phrases and mine was ‘those were the words he needed to hear’.
> 
> Prompts:  
> (quote) "A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment." ― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, (word) examine, (word) snow
> 
> Enjoy reading!

**Skipping The Admiration Part**

“No.”

“Why not?”

Mary rolled her eyes as Dorcas and Marlene continued to argue, just like the last thirty minutes of this fine Friday afternoon. Upon hearing Marlene refuse to even set a foot near the Quidditch pitch, Dorcas had made it her personal goal to convince said girl to go anyway. She planned on joining the team next year, so she couldn’t for the life of her understand why Marlene downright refused to go with them.

“Because I see no reason and because it’s cold!”

Mary turned around and gazed out of the girls’ dormitory’s window. The pane was frozen at the edges, letting little white ice crystals make their way along its smooth surface. The grounds of Hogwarts were covered in brilliant white snow, reflecting the rays of sunlight that did their best to melt it all away. _Not going to happen_ , Mary thought with a grin. She loved snow and she loved winter. Hearing the cold wind blow by the window, the mere sound of it making her shiver, the clean smell of fresh air when she stood in the snow and enjoyed the warm sunlight… She loved everything about it.

“Of course, it’s cold! It’s winter!”

Mary snickered softly. She could literally hear Dorcas rolling her eyes at Marlene’s exclamation.

“And you’ll come too,” Dorcas whirled around, focusing her determined stare at innocent Lily, who sat on top of her blanket on her bed, a book in her lap, looking like a deer caught in headlight.

“What? No way.”

“Not you, too.” Dorcas groaned and put her face in her hands. Grumbling something unintelligible, she glared at her two best friends through the slits between her fingers. Her eyes shot over to Mary, who smirked back.

*~*MKSB*~*

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing this!” Lily huffed as she tried to struggle free and somehow get a foot onto the ground. Dorcas and Mary had decided to just ignore their protests and had gone back to their magical way of _convincing_ as they called it. Being floated through the Common Room had been embarrassing enough, but not lifting the spell while on their way through the _whole castle_ was downright cruel.

“One has to make sacrifices in order to get to their goal,” Dorcas smiled innocently, marching through the ankle-deep snow. “What needs to be done needs to be done.”

“And by the way, what do you have against watching our house team’s practice? Show some support here, will you?” Mary smirked and raised her wand a little bit as to avoid the upcoming collision between Marlene and a nearby bush.

“Yeah, when I’m on the team next year I want you all to support me and cheer me on when I’m leading the team to its next victory!” Dorcas punched her free fist into the air and cheered. “And I’ll look absolutely gorgeous on a broom in the air with a Quaffle in my arms and you know it.”

This time, it was Lily’s turn to roll her eyes. Leave it to Dorcas to think of a Quidditch match to be some kind of beauty competition just to get even more invitations to Hogsmead than she already got. It didn’t matter that she was only a second year student; older students – mainly third and fourth years – were asking her out anyway, clearly forgetting – or just ignoring – the fact that she wasn’t allowed to visit Hogsmead just yet.

A distant shout pulled her out of her reverie. As she looked up, she saw they had arrived at the pitch. Seven figures were flying at sickening speed over the snow that covered the ground of the pitch, but Lily could just make out seven red dots zooming around, over and under each other, throwing and hitting balls like there was no tomorrow.

“Thank you,” Marlene grumbled as Mary put her down on the ground.

“Come on,” being tugged to the stands, Marlene had a chance to glance up just as a Bludger zoomed past her.

“Watch out,” someone called out as he whizzed past her after the Bludger and hitting it with all his might with the thick club he was holding onto. “You okay, McKinnon?”

Sirius Black flew over to them, a slightly worried expression on his face. His longish hair was windswept, his cheeks pink from the cold and his nose was literally glowing. Marlene felt a weird dropping sensation as she looked into his concerned, light grey eyes that examined her carefully.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she mumbled, blushing under his intense gaze.

“You sure? You look quite shaken,” Black frowned slightly and he directed his broom to fly nearer to the stands.

“Of course, she’s shaken. Who wouldn’t be if they had just narrowly avoided being hit by a mad Bludger?” Dorcas called out as she, Mary and a reluctant Lily made their way back down the stairs to their friend.

Black turned around to glare at Dorcas and retort with a cheeky remark as an amused shout of non-other than James Potter interrupted him. Lily groaned. “Oi, Siri!” He called out and flew over to them. Lily tried to hide behind Mary, who was starting to grin widely, knowing exactly what was about to happen. “What’cha doin’? Have you lost the Bludger or what? Oh, hello ladies.” He sent a charming smile their way, making Dorcas and Mary blush crimson. “Evans,” he gave her a nod and winked at her. “How’s it going? Did you come to watch me play? That’s really convenient, you know? Because, since you’re here, I’ve wanted to ask you something for quite some time now.”

Black turned around to focus all of his attention – grinning and winking – on poor Lily, who was bright red from head to toe. He punched his friend against his back, nearly knocking him off his broom.

“Well, well, Jamie, let’s not over-excite Evans here. She’s already jumping up and down with happiness,” he cackled as Lily glared at him.

“Very funny,” she hissed as James beamed at her.

“Potter, Black! Get your bums back up here!”

“Will do, Captain,” Black yelled back, pushing a winking James Potter away from him and the stands. With a last grin, he turned around and made eye-contact with Marlene, who did her best to make her heartbeat calm down, but without having much success. “Hope you’ll enjoy the practice, McKinnon,” he said, winked at her and made his way back to the rest of his team, most of who had an annoyed expression on their faces.

Lily huffed and climbed up the stairs to find a seat at the very top of the wooden stage, closely followed by a hyper Dorcas and a giggling Mary.

Marlene’s eyes followed the black-haired young wizard into the sky, wondering what it would be like to be up there with him, on the same broom, laughing about how Potter and Lily danced around each other…

*~*MKSB*~*

Marlene clutched her side with one hand as she wiped her tears away with the other. She and Sirius sat on the couch in front of their coffee table, laden with brochures, magazines and self-written lists and were laughing their heads off.

“Oh, I remember that,” she gasped as she tried to get her breathing back under control. “The glare she shot him! Poor James. But what was he thinking wanting to ask her out just a day after his last brush-off?”

Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. “I have no idea.” He remembered that moment as if it had been just yesterday. After their practice, he had taken his best friend aside, setting him straight in the – probably most – important topic at that time; asking out a girl you liked. He could remember his reaction all too well. Being put straight by his best friend – a friend just as flirty as he was with Lily – had been a big blow to his ego, although Sirius was pretty sure James hadn’t cared one bit about what he had been telling him. He snickered. _Yes, those were the words he needed to hear_ , he thought, thinking about his ten minutes long speech about the morals and social rules one had to stick to when asking a girl out. Had it helped? Not in the slightest.

“And now they’re getting married,” Marlene sighed and picked up a wedding magazine from the table in front of them. “I can’t believe it.” She looked at the smiling bride on the cover of the heavy magazine she had lent from Lily the other day. After Sirius had proposed to her, she had immediately wanted to start planning their wedding. Who knew how much time they had left, with the war and everything going on outside their little comfortable home?

“You know,” she whispered, still looking at the magazine in her hand, “I think I knew it all along.”

Sirius frowned, puzzled. “That Lily and James would get married? Sorry, but even though you’re a woman, I somehow doubt that anyone could have guessed what those two would be up to at that point.”

Marlene smiled softly and turned to her fiancée. “Not them; us.” She put the magazine into her lap and took Sirius’ hands in hers. Gently running her thumb over his palm, she looked him in the eye and smiled lovingly. “Back then, during that practice all those years ago. I think I knew deep down that you are something special; that somehow we’d end up together.”

“Really?” He raised his brows as he gently squeezed her hands. He watched fascinated as an adorable blush crept up her cheeks, tainting them a beautiful pink colour. “How come?”

“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment,” she sighed and smiled absentmindedly. “At least I guess that had been the case with me.”

“And with Lily as well,” Sirius grinned as he leaned forward. “Though she had probably skipped the admiration part.”

Marlene laughed as Sirius’ lips met with hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not directly Jily, but it fits anyway. I hope you liked it.
> 
> Leave a comment!
> 
> Until next time - see ya!


	6. The Baby Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a parent has its downsides...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an older one again, but by far one of my favourites!  
> We had to use a phrase and not change it. Mine was 'It was gross at the beginning, but you kind of get used to it...' and it fit perfectly!
> 
> Prompts:  
> (word) blush, (style) first person present tense
> 
> Enjoy!

**The Baby Business**

„I don’t know about you, but I think your mother is downright evil sometimes.” I scowl as I hear my wife open the front door, laughing all the way through the hallway and greeting someone who sounds suspiciously like Sirius, who of course doesn’t hesitate in joining her laughter. Harry looks at me with his big green eyes and reaches out towards me, grasping hold of my finger. “You’re on my side, right, buddy? You’re not as evil as those who call themselves our loving family, are you?”

Harry blinks and pulls my hand towards his little mouth, obviously wanting to suck at my finger. “Uh-uh,” I say and tickle his baby belly, causing him to laugh his adorable baby laughter. “No drooling on Daddy, you hear me? First we got to change you. Otherwise your Mummy won’t be happy with me. And we don’t want that, now do we?”

Pulling my hand gently out of my son’s fist, I start tugging at the diaper, dreading what I’ll find in it. “I hope you behaved,” I mutter as, with a firm tug, the diaper fell from his waist, presenting his achievement in all its glory. “Holy shit!” I yelp – a big mistake. I inhale a gust of the odour of the diaper’s content and start retching. Harry, having a blast, starts giggling in earnest, completely unfazed by the toxic cloud enveloping him. The stuffed stag he’s swinging through the air in obvious glee comes within dangerous proximity of the dirty diaper, nearly catapulting its contents through the room.

“Oh, watch out,” I yell, grabbing hold of the flying fluffy missile. Harry grumbles. I sigh. “Oh, alright.” I roll my eyes as Harry starts swinging the toy through the air again. “You look like you’re going to be a beater someday. I sincerely hope I’m wrong about this…” I mumble, tugging the offensive item out from under him and throw it into a nearby bin. I grab his little feet – not without tickling them first, of course – and lift his bum up into the air to be cleaned properly.

“Of course, he’ll be a beater. He’ll take after his good old godfather, won’t you, Harry?” A mad cackle from the direction of the door causes me to yelp and jump, nearly dragging my son off the changing table. I whirl around and glare at a laughing Sirius, who is clutching his side.

“He’ll be a chaser like his father,” I say, ignoring the embarrassingly non-manly scream that nobody will ever hear coming out of my mouth ever again, and turn back to my son, holding on to that last bit of dignity my ability to ignore my friend’s behaviour brought me. The blush that Sirius is giggling about doesn’t exist. I do not blush. I am a Potter. Harry giggles and claps his hands enthusiastically.  “And you’ll be amazing at it, as well.” Reaching into the small cupboard under the table’s surface, I look for something clean for Harry to wear. Finding the diapers and rompers, I look up only to see Harry on his way to the edge of the table, in all his natural glory, in order to get to his scowling godfather, who’s currently eyeing the bin’s contents.

“This is downright disgusting,” he exclaims, not seeing my naked son trying to reach him. I raise a brow. “How can you do stuff like that?” He bows down and takes a sniff. Retching, he takes a hurried step back. His eyes travel to his godson, who is sitting on the changing table, his head cocked to one side, his plush toy tightly hugged to his baby chest, with newly found respect. “How does someone as cute and innocent as you even manage to produce something as disgusting and revolting as this?” He scratches his chin and turns to me, ignoring the amused expression on my face. “How do you deal with that?”

“It _was_ gross at the beginning, but you kind of get used to it...” I say as I take hold of my squirming son and lay him back down. “It’s not that big of a deal anymore, you know?”

“Are you sure about that?” Asks a melodic voice from the door I know only too well. Harry squeals delighted. “It didn’t sound like that when I had to threaten you with cleaning the bathroom Muggle style.” She smirks as I put down a fresh diaper next to our son. “Have you cleaned him?”

I close my eyes and sigh. “Of course, I’ve cleaned him. And that was blackmail, I’ll have you know.”

“I call it ‘the right motivation’.” Lily laughs.

Taking a deep breath, I straighten my back and look her straight into those beautiful sparkling emerald eyes of hers that I’m so fond of. _Oh, I could just walk over there and forget all about Sirius and Harry and…_ I blink. One glance towards Harry tells me that I’m not very believable at the moment. The big toothy grin and the continuous giggle are a dead giveaway. _But…!_ Manning up, I turn back towards by wife and my supposedly best friend, who is currently laughing his head off, although he does have the decency of trying to hide it and take another deep breath. “Harry likes it more when you do the whole changing business, you know? That way he doesn’t have to compete with anyone.”

Lily snorts very attractively. “Compete? With whom?”

Now Sirius can’t hold it anymore and bursts out laughing. Harry, being the little, adorable traitor that he is, chimes right in, joining his godfather in the mad cackling. I glare at my son, only succeeding in making him laugh even louder, having no idea what is going on around him, but being happy about having an excuse to laugh at his father anyway. I sigh. _Nobody takes me seriously anymore. Not even my toddler son._

“Aww, look at that blush,” Lily coos and strolls over to me in order to make me feel better, because she just is this person, who loves seeing people around her happy and content, although I swear she has a devil streak in that personality of hers. I open my mouth to tell her that I’m man enough to digest their taunts, when she reaches around me and kisses my son’s cheek, mine staying painfully kiss-less. I pout.

Lily runs her hand through my hair swiftly and leans against Harry’s cot, hip resting against the wooden railing. “I’ll just say one word; responsibilities. You’re a father now, James; have been for little over a year now. You’ll have to learn how to deal with not so pleasant stuff sooner or later. Why not sooner?”

“I am a responsible father, Harry just doesn’t tell you,” I wink at her flirtingly and turn around to my son, who is still lying on the changing table in all his natural glory. Just as I raise the diaper and reach forward to lift his bum up from the table’s surface, I see a jet of yellowish liquid shoot towards me and onto my shirt, successfully wetting it and making me look even more like an idiot. I scowl down at my giggling son, who is clapping his hands enthusiastically.

 _How much I just_ love _my family._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, I hope you liked it! Poor James!
> 
> Please leave a comment!
> 
> Until next time - see ya!


	7. The Toy Broomstick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a lovely September afternoon in the Potter household... Having a bored Sirius, a tired James and a mischevious little Harry in the same room is bound to cause trouble...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is fairly new and I adore baby!Harry. He's so flippin' CUTE!  
> I had to use Spellotape in there somehow. Sorry, Padfoot xD
> 
> Prompts:  
> (dialogue) "I'm bored. Play with me!", (word) bounce, (word) shatter
> 
> Enjoy!

**The Toy Broomstick**

“Come on Prongslet, I’m bored. Play with me!” Sirius Black whined as he gently poked the giggling, black-haired toddler who was chewing on a wooden block, clearly enjoying the antics of his godfather.

“Let the poor boy be, Padfoot,” James Potter yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He and Lily hadn’t gotten much sleep last night because their son thought it was more fun listening to lullabies than actually falling asleep like a good boy.

It was late September. The sun was out and lighting up the living room they were currently occupying. A few birds could be heard chirping every now and then, not quite ready yet for summer to end and fall to begin. Light brown leaves were starting to cover the streets of the cosy little village called Godric’s Hollow, the wind blowing fallen leaves into the air, making them dance on the cobblestones.

It was a lovely day. It would have been even lovelier if their sweet, little boy had decided to let them sleep through the night, though. James grumbled softly to himself as he rubbed his tired eyes.

He could not, for the life of him, figure out how Harry managed to crawl around the room, picking up toys and stuffed animals, throwing them in different directions, just to toddle after them, pick them up again and repeat the whole procedure anew. Even his wife had more energy left than him, bustling busily in the kitchen, baking Merlin knew what. And she had been the one poking him in the rips every time he had nodded off, mind you...

Sighing loudly, he picked himself up off the couch and stretched, groaning all the way.

“Sweet Merlin, you sound like an old man, Prongs,” Sirius grinned up from the floor. He was holding a stuffed wolf that Harry had just plonked into his lap.

“Oh, shut up,” James mumbled, as he ran a hand through his hair, making it even more tousled than it already was from a night without sleep and a short nap on the couch. He hadn’t showered either, come to think of it….

“I’m bored,” Sirius complained.

James sighed.

“Why don’t we get Harry’s new broom out of the cupboard?” A maniacal glint appeared in the wizard’s eyes.

James’ eyes narrowed, suspicious, as he watched his friend’s grin grow even wider, threatening to split his face in two.

“Come on, Jamesie! It’ll be fun!”

A happy squeal and clapping baby hands followed that exclamation and the decision was made.

“But Lily can’t find out,” the young Potter said in a low tone, as he pointed at his friend and his son, a serious expression on his face. “Mummy will become very angry with all of us if she sees you on that broom!”

Little Harry squealed delighted and bounced up and down on his diaper-clad bum. James smiled lovingly at his little boy, knelt down beside him and pressed a gentle kiss into the unruly black hair that so much resembled his own.

“Be right back then.”

Quietly, he sneaked out of the living room and into the hallway. Careful not to alert his wife, he peeked into the kitchen to see her hum softly to herself as she was mixing flour into a yellowy mixture. Deeming it the best moment he had, he quickly hurried down the hall to the cupboard which held the cleaning utensils that Lily was still adamant about using. _Working with your hands has its advantages once in a while_ , she had said. James smirked as he remembered what had happened afterwards; how very much he had agreed that _working with your hands_ had indeed its advantages.

He opened the door to the storage cupboard, rummaged around for a short while and grabbed the play broom that was stowed away at the very back of the small room, just in case Harry had somehow managed to get into there and find his beloved birthday present.

Back in the living room, he found his best friend and his son grinning eagerly. He couldn’t say who, out of those two, was more excited.

“He found it!” Sirius yelled, got up and ran over to where James was standing, holding the broom over his head.

“Be quiet, you idiot!” James hissed, which was followed by a rather forceful pat against his leg. Blinking, he gazed down, astonished to see his son try to reach the broom above his head. His little face was scrunched up in annoyed determination.

“Would you look at him,” Sirius cooed and scooped the little boy up. Harry giggled, delighted at the attention he was getting. “You want to play, don’t you, Prongslet?”

Harry nodded excitedly, turned around to his dad and pointed at the broom he was still holding onto tightly. “Dada! B’oom!”

“Alright, alright,” James laughed and lowered his arm just enough that the broom was hovering twenty centimetres over the carpeted floor. With his other hand, he fished his wand out of his back pocket, tapped it against the broom and grinned as Harry started clapping excitedly as sparks flew out of the broom’s tip, announcing it ready to be played with.

Sirius gently put his godson onto the carpet and watched with a wide grin as said boy crawled over to his broomstick, grabbed onto his with surprising strength, and pulled himself onto his feet, using the wooden handle for leverage. Forceful pats with tiny hands had the broom lower itself further to the ground, so that the young wizard could mount it without toppling over.

As soon as his diaper-clad bum touched the wood, the broom rose a bit in height and off it went.

Grinning madly, Sirius’ eyes followed his godson, who was whooping loudly and giggling like crazy as the broom flew through the living room. With a quick spin, he transformed into Padfoot and ran after the broomstick and his hysterically laughing godson.

Their cat hissed and quickly fled out of the room as Harry zoomed right past it.

“Watch out!” James yelled as Harry took a sharp turn and brushed the broom’s tail against a low glass table which held Lily’s most prized possession – her dead grandmother’s antique vase.

James winced as the vase toppled slowly, but thankfully didn’t fall over. Exhaling, he allowed a rush of relief flow through his veins, as Padfoot continued to run after his son, who was doing surprisingly well on dodging the playful attacks of the black dog. _He’ll definitely be a Seeker once he’s older_ , James thought, bursting with pride. _He’s got one hell of a talent going on!_

Soft noises came out of the kitchen as Lily started with the washing up. Quickly, pointing his wand toward the living room door, James cast a mild Silencing Charm to keep his wife from hearing what was going on in here. He made sure to use the charm he and his friends had invented in school that led him hear everything that was going on on her side of the charm, but kept her from getting suspicious by hearing yells and screams out of the living room.

He grinned satisfied and turned back around to continue to watch his son work on his flying skills, just as the laughing boy, once again, flew past the glass table. This time, though, his broom’s tail swished over the surface of the small table and touched the vase at a dangerous angle. Sirius let out an excited bark as he took the sharp corner with more speed than necessary, his tail wiggling energetically.

James’ eyes widened as he watched, nearly in slow motion, as the expensive vase began to topple, roll over the surface of the glass, fall over the edge, bounce off of the soft carpet and come to a halt just next to the table.

Expelling all of the left-over air out of his lungs, James allowed himself a few seconds to breathe. Nothing happened to the vase! It was still in ta-

_Clang._

Padfoot yelped and transformed back into his red-faced self. Gingerly, he held his hand that was bleeding and still had a piece of broken porcelain stuck in its palm.

Harry, upon hearing the yelp, had stopped the broom from flying and was now looking to his godfather with a worried expression on his glowing face.

The vase – James groaned – lay, shattered, at their feet.

“For Merlin’s sake,” he mumbled, as he knelt down next to his best friend to look at his hand closely. “Stay where you are, Harry! I don’t want you to injure yourself as well!”

Harry blinked and slid off of the broomstick to sit down on the fluffy carpet.

“I’m sorry, James,” Sirius muttered apologetically as he watched his friend poke the piece of porcelain in his hand with his wand. “I didn’t see the table in time to slow down.”

“It’s alright, Padfoot,” James said and smiled reassuringly at his friend. “Let’s just make sure this cut doesn’t get infected, okay?” He quickly pulled out the sharp piece of the vase out of his friend’s hand, pointed his wand at the palm and mumbled “ _Episkey!”_

A soft blue glow enveloped the hand for a few seconds as the hand stitched itself back together.

“Thanks,” Sirius smiled gingerly at his friend, who merely rolled his eyes and turned back to the broken vase on the floor next to them.

“Lily is going to kill me!”

“We can still fix it, I’m sure,” Sirius exclaimed, grabbed James’ wand, pointed it at the remains that had once been a very old vase, cleared his throat and said “ _Reparo!”_

The porcelain pieces trembled, flew into the air and fell back onto the carpet.

James scowled.

“Well, it was worth a try,” Sirius scratched the back of his neck.

“Goo!” Harry clapped his hands to get the adults’ attention.

“What is it, Harry,” James asked as he watched his son crawl over to them. He held out a hand to stop him from getting too close to the shards.

“Dada! Goo!”

James blinked, confused. “Goo?”

“Goo!” Harry nodded energetically and pointed his little finger to the broken vase. “No wan’! Goo!”

“I think he wants us to glue it back together,” Sirius says slowly and Harry clapped his hands, excitedly.

Looking back to his son, James took his hand. “Do you mean we should glue the pieces back together?”

Harry giggled and nodded, grinning widely.

“Clever boy!” Sirius cooed and ruffled Harry’s unruly hair.

“But we don’t have Muggle glue in the house,” James ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “I didn’t think we’d need it, what with the Reparo Spell...”

“We could always just use Spellotape.”

James looked at Sirius blankly. “Spellotape.”

“Spellotape,” Sirius repeated, the suspicious glint in his eyes was back.

“You do know that using Spellotape is more than obvious?” James asked, speaking as if he was talking to a toddler and not a twenty-one year old man.

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Of course I know that, you bimbo,” he huffed. “What I mean is that using Spellotape could buy you some time to look up a more appropriate repairing spell to get the pieces back together!”

A slow smile started to light up James’ face as he gazed from his son to his friend and over to the shattered vase. “You know what? That could actually work! With a lot of luck. And I mean, _a lot_ of luck.”

“What could work?”

All three of them yelped and whirled around to see Lily stand in the doorway, on their side of the Silencing Charm, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Um...” James stuttered and smiled tentatively at his wife, who merely raised an eyebrow. “Well...”

“Mama!”

 _Saved by the kid_ , James sighed, relieved, as Lily’s stern gaze softened into a gentle smile.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she said, as Harry toddled safely, and shard-free, around the couch – which James was very pleased about – and raised both hands into the air, an unspoken demand to be picked up.

“Will _you_ tell mummy what your daddy and your uncle have done this time, love?”

Harry giggled and pointed to the remains of the once beautiful vase that James and Sirius were doing their best in hiding. “Dada an’ Pa’foo goo!”

Lily raised her eyebrows and turned her, once again, stern gaze at her childish husband and his even more childish friend. “What did you do?”

James gulped. He knew it would cause a lot less trouble if he just moved out of the way and told her straight out that _Padfoot_ had destroyed her favourite heirloom. He looked over to Sirius, who merely shrugged in a careless manner.

“Well?”

Sighing, James stood up from the floor and carefully navigated out of Lily’s direct line of view.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, upon hearing Lily’s shocked gasp. “Harry and Sirius were playing and everything got a bit out of hand and it just toppled over and shattered on the ground.” His hand rose to his hair almost subconsciously.

Lily took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment to calm herself. Her grip on Harry tightened slightly, as she pressed her nose into his soft baby hair and inhaled slowly. The calming, fresh scent invaded her brain and helped her slow down her heart rate.

“Does this have anything to do with the broomstick that you are trying to hide behind your back, Sirius?”

Sirius froze and started laughing hesitantly as Lily opened her eyes and glared at him. “You know, Evans, Harry really wanted to play with his new broom and –“

“Don’t you dare blame this on my son,” Lily said in a very calm voice, smiling angelically at him. Harry was playing calmly with her bright red hair.

“Um,” Sirius blinked and looked over to James, begging for help.

“Okay, it was our idea,” he said, waving his hand around wildly, as if he was swatting away annoying flies. “Sirius brought it up, Harry got excited and I went and got it out of the cupboard. We’re all guilty here.”

“I plead innocent!”

“Shut up, Padfoot, no-one is talking with you!”

Lily sighed and rubbed at her forehead to keep a headache from appearing. She knew there had to be a spell that could fix delicate porcelain objects; she just needed to find it. Having to look for the spell for more annoying than having the vase broken in the first place. _But_ , Lily smirked, _since I wasn’t the one who broke it, I won’t be the one to waste my precious time in looking for the right spell. Time that I could spend cuddling with my son._

“Alright, then,” Lily said, stepped over the shards that were still lying on the floor next to the glass table and sat down onto the softly cushioned couch that she loved so dearly. Harry made himself comfortable in her lap and pressed his face into his mother’s neck. Playing with the broom, laughing all the time had worn him out. His little mouth opened with a wide yawn and he settled down for a short and refreshing nap.

James looked at his small family with loving eyes, as he as well went around the couch and sat down beside his wife and their son, putting his arm over her shoulder and pulling them gently into his side.

“I really am sorry,” he kissed her temple softly and smiled gently at the two people he would die for. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

Lily blinked repeatedly, fluttering her lashes at him as she smiled sweetly at him. “I know. That’s why you’ll be the one to look for an appropriate, everlasting repairing charm, darling.”

Sirius laughed his bark-like laughter as James closed his eyes and sighed, dejectedly.

The smirk Lily was wearing showed that this wasn’t all she’d make him do, but that there would be more to come.

 

There we go! I absolutely LOVED writing this little drabble. I love the Potters to pieces, and having them in a happy moment like this warms my heart!

As always, feel free to leave a comment. I always read and answer them. They make my day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sighs happily* I really enjoyed writing this one!
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
> 
> I will upload regularly; everytime I managed to write something Jily :)
> 
> Until next time - see ya! :D


	8. Shards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy reading!

**Shards**

Everything was going wrong. I don't know how it happened. It seemed that one minute, Lily's family stepped over the threshold and the next everything went down the drain. I guess it started with Petunia throwing insults left and right... No, to be completely honest, I think this all started the second we opened our eyes this morning. This whole day should never have existed.

We had decided a few weeks ago that we would invite our parents to dinner tonight, because we had an announcement to make. Being engaged was something big and I had never even dared to hope that I would actually be lucky enough to not only end up with a beautiful fiancée beaming at me and sneaking glances at the sparkling new ring on her finger, but for that woman to be Lily Evans... I start grinning every time my thoughts wander that way, so it's only logical that we wanted to share that information with the people we love. Our friends had not believed us at first and after being able to breathe again after Lily had dragged a yelling and cackling Sirius off of me, we had a lovely and relatively normal evening. So it was the parents' turn now, starting with family Evans.

I had a feeling that this day would end horribly when I opened my eyes that morning and found my lovely dishevelled wife-to-be rushing through our little house we had bought right after graduation and trying to sort everything out before her family arrived about eleven hours later. When I pointed that little fact out, she started hissing and I hurriedly agreed with her that the books did not look good in their current order because the spines' colours did not fit. Who knew that leather bound books looked different? I certainly didn't!

The second the doorbell rang, Lily dropped the oven gloves and stared at me with wide eyes. I sent her a reassuring smile which only succeeded in making her pale drastically. I winced slightly and hurried to get the door. There they were. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who was holding Lily's sister's arm in a vice-like grip to keep her from running away.

"James, darling!" Meredith exclaimed and gave me an awkward one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek - her other arm was struggling to keep its grip on Petunia who had started fussing as soon as I got closer.

"Hello, Meredith. Robert, Petunia." I smiled and nodded to Robert Evans who took my hand and shook it vigorously, the ever lovely Petunia Dursley - I still felt the vomit coming up my digestive system when I thought about that oaf of a man she actually married - glared at me. "Please, come on in. Lily is in the kitchen. She should be here soon," I said, desperately trying to stay calm as I stepped out of the way to let them in.

Maybe I should have just let Lily’s parents in and refused to do the same with her sister, because after I shot a glance towards Lily, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, happily hugging her parents, I knew it would have been the right thing to do. _Too slow, Potter_.

*~*Shards*~*

“ _You want to do what?”_ My smile slowly dripped off my face as I sat at our dining table, Lily’s hand held tightly in mine, but my back rigid and my eyes staring straight forward into the dull eyes of Petunia Evans Dursley. I blinked.

“It is my decision who to marry, Petunia,” says Lily, her voice so cold that I felt an unpleasant shiver run down my spine. “I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with-“

“ _A freak?!?”_

_“Petunia!”_

_“What?_ It’s true, isn’t it? He’s a freak! _She_ is a freak! And now she wants to ruin our family’s honour further by marrying one of _them_?!” _th_ _them_?!” She hissed the last word with so much vengeance, that my grip on Lily’s hand tightened.

I had met her before. I had met Lily’s parents, but not her sister, although I had heard quite a lot horror stories about the oldest Evans daughter. For her to be so vile… I sighed and looked towards Lily. I wanted that woman out of our house. Now. But Lily wouldn’t have it. The hand that wasn’t holding mine clutched the fine wine glass my parents had gifted us when we had moved in. I remembered them, because as I child I had often been found in front of a certain glass cabinet, which had held said wine glasses made out of the best crystal found on planet earth. They cost a fortune.

I was ripped out of my thoughts by the sound of glass shattering on the floor, directly followed by a high-pitched screech and a slap. I blinked and saw my lone hand lying on the table’s surface. Lily stood next to the table, her lovely hand still raised. I stood up and looked at the shocked faces of Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

“We are so sorry, James!” Meredith exclaimed and her hands shot up to cover her mouth. She was trembling.

I followed her gaze and gulped. Between Petunia and Lily on the floor lay crystal shards in a small pool of red liquid. The breath I didn’t know I’d been holding in my lungs escaped in a rush and my hand zoomed up to my messy hair. I didn’t know whether to rip them out or pull at them with less strength as I stared at one part of my family heirloom on the floor. This glass had survived one thousand years filled with war and now one Petunia Dursley… I gulped as the air that tried to force its way back into my respiratory system burned its way down.

“We better go,” Robert said as he sniffed awkwardly. No-one answered. “Petunia, come.”

“Wait!” My head shot up as my eyes found my beet red fiancée, who was quivering with fury. The last time I had seen her like that was in our fifth year at Hogwarts, on the grounds by the lake. I bit my lip and tried not to look at the shards still lying on the tiles. “I have something to say.” Her voice trembled as she took a step forward, coming to a halt directly in front of her sister, their noses nearly touching. Petunia flinched and that was what made Lily explode. Her hand shot out and with so much force that could have knocked Sirius unconscious it zapped back again, hitting the pale cheek of the shocked Petunia Dursley. “Get out of my life. You are no sister of mine.”

*~*Shards*~*

Later that evening, I gathered up the shards of broken history and put them in a tea towel. Lily had left the room as soon as her family had left the house and probably our lives. I hissed as a sharp piece of glass dug its way into my thumb. A small drop of blood oozed out of the skin and stayed there, taunting me with what had happened mere hours ago. I cursed as I feel my throat burn with tears. Why did this have to happen? Why weren’t they allowed at least one simple and happy moment with Lily’s family? She blamed herself for what had happened, I knew her good enough to know that. But I couldn’t do anything to make her believe any different.

Forget the glass, forget its meaning and its value… What Petunia had said was what botheresd me more than anything. I knew she didn’t like me. I knew she didn’t like magic. But I hadn’t known how she treated her own little sister.

I felt a tear run down my cheek, but I didn’t care. There was nobody here to see me like this, nursing a bloody thumb whilst sitting in a puddle of red wine and crying like a little boy. All I wanted was for Lily to be part of her own family again – to be loved and valued like she should be. Ever since the moment she had gotten her letter, her life had spiralled downwards, sometimes faster, other times slower. It seemed like this dinner had been the peek so far and I did not like its outcome. What it had done to the woman I loved… And I couldn’t do anything to change it! Hell, I couldn’t even go up to her and tell her it’s alright, that everything would turn out to be okay, because I knew it wouldn’t. I couldn’t lie to her.

The noise of bare feet moving over tiled floor made me sniff and hurriedly dry my face. Delicate arms snaked their way around my shoulders, one hand resting on my chest directly above my heart, the other reaching out for my bleeding thumb and pulling it upward to meet soft lips that kissed the drops of blood away.

I sighed softly as yet another hiccup wrecked through my body. “I’m sorry,” I whispered as her perfume enveloped me. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, love,” she said and pressed her lips to my neck, layering it with soft and loving kisses. “She has chosen her life and I’ve chosen mine. And no-one will take that away from me. Will take _you_ away from me. Not even my so called sister.”

*~*Shards*~*

I can’t remember how the night ended, even though I am trying to, sitting on one of the couches in front of the fireplace, one arm over my wife’s shoulder, the over one wrapped around her slowly but steadily growing tummy.

We have not seen Petunia Dursley since that fateful night. Meredith and Robert have come over a couple of times, telling us that Petunia was pregnant with a boy. I still shudder every time I try to imagine _how_ exactly she became pregnant.

As I look down to the protruding stomach of my wife, in which my baby son was growing healthily, I can’t stop myself from thinking that he will never meet his aunt, uncle and cousin. And that was the best thing that would ever happen to him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope Petunia never did anything like that, although I have a feeling that her behaviour was close to what happened in this chapter, especially destroying fancy classes seems up her alley..  
> Until next time - see ya! :D


	9. Meeting the In-Laws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY! :D  
> If you guys want, I might write a second chapter about how the dinner goes for the clueless James in the middle of a Muggle Family. If I write it, I will mark it in the chapter notes as part two.

**Meeting the In-Laws**

“Will you stop fiddling with your shirt, James? You look lovely!”

“You have to say that! You’re my mother!” James tucked at the bottom of his dark blue, fancy shirt. He wasn’t sure whether it was too fancy or not fancy enough. What if they thought he didn’t take them seriously? What if they thought he wanted to mock them by being impolite and not respect them for being Muggles?

He closed the top button of his shirt, frowned in the full length mirror he had been looking at for the last thirty minutes, and popped it open again.

Euphemia Potter rolled her eyes and gently swatted her son’s hand away. “Leave it!”

“Muuuum!” he moaned and let his head fall back in an exaggerated manner. “I want to look presentable and I can’t have you interfere with my look!”

“Oh, shut up, you!” Euphemia said as she patted down any wrinkles her overly nervous son had created on his shirt. “You look lovely. They won’t think any different than I do.”

“I don’t want to look _lovely_ , Mum!” James waved his arms around widely, barely missing his mother’s head. “I want to look handsome and manly and grown-up, not _lovely_!”

“Stop whining now and watch out where you’re throwing your limbs, honey.”

The black-haired wizard scowled at his mirror image. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like how he looked, he didn’t like how nervous he was _and_ he didn’t like that that good-for-nothing mutt Sirius just wandered through the hallway and caught a glimpse of him in his current stressful situation.

“Bloody hell, Prongs, you’re not ready yet? You’ve been in this room for the last hour at the very least!” Sirius smirked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Well, _obviously_ I’m not ready yet, you idiot.”

“Well, _obviously_ you should be because Lily will be here in about ten minutes.”

James froze and gaped at his laughing friend before freaking out. Forgotten was the top button of his shirt, forgotten was his hair that was sticking out even more than usual, forgotten were his shoes, as he jumped over his discarded clothes that were covering the floor around the mirror and dashed to the door.

“James, your shoes!” His mother yelled after him and he skittered to a halt in the slippery hallway, nearly slipped and fell onto his bum, and hurried back into his bedroom. A stray arm hit Sirius square in the chest as he pushed his way past him, grabbed his shoes that his mum was thankfully offering him and ran back into the hallway, just as a house-elf popped into existence right next to him.

James yelped, slipped and landed on his bum.

“Tilly is sorry, Master James, sir. Tilly didn’t want to make Master James trip and fall, sir.”

Ignoring Sirius’ barking laughter, James picked himself up off the floor and tried to straighten his clothes as much as possible.

“It’s quite alright, Tilly. You didn’t mean to, after all.” He threw a dark glare towards his friend, who had doubled over with laughter.

His mother came bustling out of his room, took in the sight in front of her and shook her head. “Really, boys, you two need to calm down. And look at you!” She hurried towards her son and began patting dust off of his bum.

“Stop it, woman!” James cried out and tried to hide his bottom from his overwhelming mum.

All the while, Sirius had started to cry, his face beet red, gasping for air and the poor house-elf stood in front of them all, not daring to interrupt the display of familial affection.

Euphemia ignored the antics of her son, grabbed him by his elbow rather forcefully and swatted away at his trousers. “I won’t have you meet Mr. and Mrs. Evans with your butt covered in dust, James. Tilly,” she said as her son successfully managed to flee into a nearby bedroom, “what was it that you wanted?”

The elf blinked. His eyes widened as he remembered the reason that had caused all this chaos. “Tilly is so sorry, Mistress Potter, Ma’am! Tilly has come to tell Mistress and Masters that Lily Evans is waiting in the reception area. She is wanting to talk to Master James, Ma’am.”

“Well, will you look at that,” James’ mum grinned excitedly and ran both hands over the front of her robes. “James!”

The messy haired and slightly pale wizard poked his head out of the spare bedroom. His eyes widened almost dramatically as he watched his mother point towards the staircase and move towards it. “I will greet your girlfriend now. You should be doing that, but I don’t know if you... There we go.”

She smirked mischievously at the shoes still lying on the floor as her son raced past her and down the staircase.

*~*Jily*~*

James skittered to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, just barely grabbing onto the banister to keep  himself from toppling over.

His breath got caught in his throat as he saw her. She was as beautiful as she had been that very first day he had laid eyes on her on the Hogwarts Express nearly seven years ago. If anything, she got more beautiful with every day. Her bright red hair was braided at the back of her head and was resting over her left shoulder, showing off her long and slender neck perfectly. Her pale skin was glowing in the setting sun, her green eyes travelled over everything she could see, just like the first time she had been here. A silent look of awe passed her stunning face, as she watched the portraits of his ancestors that were hanging in the hall smile, wink and wave at her.

“Hi, flower,” he said and strolled down the last couple of steps. He tried to look as cool and chilled as he could, wanting to impress her even now. Sirius kept laughing at him for acting that way and not even Remus’ comment that he managed to get her to go out with him kept him from trying to woo her further.

“Hey,” she smiled widely and encircled her arms gently around his neck as he bent down and hugged her tightly. “I missed you,” she whispered into his ear.

James allowed himself to feel the butterflies do somersaults in his stomach as a grin as wide as hers spread over his face. “I missed you too,” he said, turned his head slightly and lightly pressed his lips onto hers.

The kiss was soft, her lips moving gently against his; nothing passionate or wild, but slow and loving. It was a kiss that kept his breath away and left him aching for more.

“Are you ready to go?” Leaning back slightly, she looked up at him. Her cheeks were of a soft pink colour, making her eyes shine even more.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said and took a deep breath to calm his sudden nerves. He could do this! If Mr. and Mrs. Evans could produce someone as loving and gentle as Lily, they had to be amazing people, and, to be frank, deep down he couldn’t wait to meet them. “Let’s go.”

Checking whether he had his wand in his back pocket, he took Lily’s hand and started towards the front doors, just as his girlfriend started giggling.

“What?” His confused hazel eyes met her amused green ones.

“I didn’t know you wanted to go without shoes,” she commented as if it was a totally logical thing to be doing.

James blinked and looked at his feet. _Shite_.

Laughter from one storey above told him his so-called family had known all along....

*~*Jily*~*

The sun was setting at the end of the street as they popped into existence. The neighbourhood was quiet. A few lone strollers could be seen in the distance, a few people sat on their porches, enjoying a glass of wine.

James looked around. The houses looked relatively similar and were of a comfortable size; obviously not as big as the Manor was, but not too small either. At first, he had been worried that he might be too tall for Lily’s home, but he soon realized that that fear was completely ridiculous.

Lily took his hand and gently pulled him towards a soft cream coloured house. Its front garden had a ton of colourful flower blooming, the grass at either side of the flower beds swaying softly in the warm evening breeze. Lily pushed open the gate and led him over a cobbled path towards the front door. There was a white rocking chair sitting next to a huge flower pot. He liked this house already.

“You ready?” She asked in a low voice and let go of his hand to search for something that was hiding inside her small bag he had not noticed until now.

James gulped and nodded hesitantly. He didn’t trust his voice to not squeak if he tried to answer her properly, so he merely smiled at her and hoped it looked reassuring.

Lily squeezed his hand tightly for a second and turned the keys inside the lock. The door swung open.

“Mum? Dad?” she yelled as they stepped over the threshold. “We’re home.”

Bustling could be heard from what James reckoned was the kitchen, pots being shifted around, plates being clanked together. Soon after, a woman wearing a bright yellow apron came rushing into the small hallway. Her brown hair was pulled back at the back of her head; her ponytail swishing from side to side as she came towards them. Her cheeks were flushed and an expectant smile was lighting up her pretty face. Her eyes had the same breath-taking colour as Lily’s.

“You must be James,” she said, hurried over to them and immediately drew the taken-aback wizard into a warm hug. Lily stifled a giggle as her boyfriend awkwardly wrapped his arms around her overwhelming mother. “I’ve heard so much about you!”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Evans,” he said and gave her his most charming smile. He knew it had done its job as Mrs. Evans turned around and beamed at her daughter.

“Oh, none of that, my dear. Please call me Grace. Richard? Come and greet our guest!”

A man with short, ginger hair came into the hallway. His hands were buried inside the pockets of his jeans, his brows were furrowed over his eyes. James swallowed and quickly glanced over to Lily, who merely rolled her eyes at her father.

“So, you’re James then?”

James smiled nervously. He didn’t like how this started. He hadn’t even had the chance to talk to Lily’s dad and already he despised him. Feeling insecure all of a sudden, he wipes his slightly trembling hands on his trousers. They’ve gone kind of sweaty.

Watching Lily and Mrs. Eva-, _Grace’s_ , annoyed and exasperated faces, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Remus’ echoed in his mind.

_“It is a tradition to make the daughter’s boyfriend feel like shit, so prepare yourself.”_

_“Yeah, mate,” Sirius had yelled and ruffled his hair as he had gaped at Remus’ innocent face. “Muggles might not curse you, but they are certainly creative enough to come up with something equally frightening!”_

Getting a hold of his Gryffindor courage, he took a step forward and offered his hand to the upset-looking father. “Nice to meet you, sir. I’m James Potter, Lily’s boyfriend.”

Grace and Lily exchanged a look which he couldn’t interpret, as Lily’s father had just started to move. James forced himself not to flinch as he watched the man’s hand twitch and quickly grasp his own, squeezing it tightly. A big smile spread over his face as he shook James’ hand.

“Nice to meet you, son. I see you have courage. I like that.”

James felt himself exhale sharply, causing everybody to start laughing.

“That was mean, Richard,” Grace shook her head and slapped her husband against his shoulder.

He chuckled. “I just couldn’t help myself. You’re much more fun than that Vernon person we had to meet a few months ago. That’s Lily’s sister Petunia’s boyfriend, mind you. That big oaf began sputtering about how amazing he is and about how he was about to get promoted from selling drills to talking about drills.” Richard threw his head back and laughed full-heartedly.

James grinned along, having no idea what Mr. Evans had just said.

“Come on, then,” Grace clapped her hands together. “Let’s start dinner, shall we?”

As she and her husband made their way through the small hallway into what James thought had to be the kitchen, the bespectacled wizard turned around and hissed, “What are drills?”

Lily laughed aloud, shook her head and followed her parents into the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, I can so imagine that happening!  
> I hope you liked it!   
> Until next time - see ya!


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